Field
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method for an information processing apparatus, and a program storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
Recently, systems enabling image forming apparatuses, installed in offices, to have functions extended have become widely employed. A function that is extended (hereinafter, referred to as an extended function) can be implemented by a software program (hereinafter, referred to as extension software). Using such extension software, functions can be added to apparatuses not only as factory default settings, but can also be added to apparatuses that have been installed and are under operation. A system that provides such extended functionality includes Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform (MEAP)® provided by Canon Inc.
In the context of such extension software, there is a technique for enabling a user to select, download, and install the extension software from an external server, to extend the functions of an image forming apparatus (Japanese Patent No. 4039439).
Among other things, extension software created for predetermined tasks can be known as application software (hereinafter, referred to as an application). The application can utilize functions provided by a facsimile, a scanner, and a printer, of the image forming apparatus to execute processing of a task. The image forming apparatus can install a plurality of such applications in accordance with the tasks desired by a user.
There is also a technique for executing a series of processing steps (hereinafter, referred to as a workflow) with a combination of respective extension software modules independently corresponding to input, conversion, and output. When such a technique is employed, billing is determined in accordance with the combination between the extension software modules and parameters (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-134872).
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-134872, the workflow is executed with a plurality of functions of the image forming apparatus which are combined by using a definition file of the workflow. Each extension software has its own setting screen corresponding to processing to be executed therewith.
Unfortunately, usability can be compromised when the workflow is executed with a plurality of extension software modules combined, due to how the setting screen of the extension software is displayed while the workflow is in process.
For example, when the workflow is executed with a combination of three extension software modules in charge of “scanning”, “optical character recognition (OCR)”, and “send”, a send setting screen is displayed only after the scanning is completed. Thus, the user may have to wait beside the image forming apparatus until the scanning is completed in order to input information into the send setting screen, for example.